


Old Dog, New Tricks

by McKat



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, Batman: The Animated Series
Genre: Alternate Dimensions, Bruce Wayne Has Feelings, First Kiss, Idiots in Love, M/M, Terry McGinnis is Batman, Time Travel, and not bad at it, please don't hate me for forgetting about Ace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:28:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,818
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25139239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McKat/pseuds/McKat
Summary: Dick Grayson somehow ends up in the Batman Beyond world, and he and Bruce come to terms with some things.Terry is there for moral support, and to help push things along.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	Old Dog, New Tricks

“Bruce? Alfred? Hello?”

  
Terry heard the voice calling from the hallway, and instinctively ran out into the hall. He came face-to-face with a tall man with black hair and blue eyes, walking around as though trying to find something. Terry ran up behind him to try and tackle him. Before he had a chance to react, he was pressed up against the wall by the stranger.

  
“Who are you?”

“What do you mean who am I?” Terry asked. “Who are you?”

“Why do you think you’re entitled to answers? How did you even break in here?”

“Huh? I was gonna ask you the same thing!”

Before this confusion could last any longer, Bruce walked in. “Terry, what in the-”

As soon as he got a good look at the stranger, the old man froze, his jaw nearly dropped. Terry had never seen him look so surprised. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

“D… Dick?”

Oh. He had seen a ghost.

“You mean - Dick Grayson?” Terry asked.

“Yeah, who are you people? Where is everyone?”

Bruce hobbled forward, putting more weight on his cane than usual. He looked every one of his eighty-something years. “Dick. It’s me. Bruce.”

“What? I just saw Bruce two minutes ago. He’s not old, who do you think you’re fooling?” His words were confident, but Terry could tell he was for more phased than he was letting on.

“Dick… I’m pretty sure you’re from fifty years in the past.”

“What?”

“Look, I understand this is confusing, but can you please put the kid down?!”

“Oh… sorry, kid.” Dick seemed to have forgotten about Terry, and let him go. “Wait, who are you?”

“Terry McGinnis. I’ve heard a lot about you, Dick Grayson. Nightwing, right?”

“What? What do you know about that?” He shot Bruce an incredulous look. “You told him?!”

Terry couldn’t help barking a short laugh. “He’s gonna have a cow.”

\-----

Dick’s jaw was practically on the cave floor looking around the Batcave.

“Careful, man, you’re gonna catch flies,” Terry said with a light pat on Dick’s shoulder.

“So… you’re…?”

“Pretty much,” Terry said with a proud grin.

“Where did you find this one, B?” Dick called over to the old man at the Batcomputer. “Orphanage? Alleyway? Circus?”

Bruce shook his head. “This one found me. Accidentally. Running from the Jokerz.”

Dick shook his head. “The… huh?”

“Joker isn’t around anymore. Well, he was, but now he isn’t. Instead there’s a gang that idolizes him. Mostly petty theft, vandalism. They’re a bunch of kids.” Bruce shrugged.

“Not that big of a deal.”

Terry scoffed, leaning back against the computer console. “Spoken like a man that doesn’t have to fight a dozen of them every night.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “That’s an exaggeration and you know it.”

“Fine,” Terry said, raising his hands in surrender. “A dozen every _other_ night. That sound more like it?”

Bruce shook his head and looked back to his first protégé. “Do you know how you got here, Dick?”

He shook his head. “All I know is I was in the Cave, talking to Batman - Bruce - _my_ Bruce - not that he’s _mine_ -” Dick sighed. “I was talking to him, went up to the Manor to negotiate a midnight snack out of Alfred, next thing I know, your new kid is trying to sneak up on me - and failing, might I add?”

Bruce frowned and turned to the computer. Dick walked forward and laid his arm across the chair back, leaning forward until his head was side-by-side with Bruce’s. Terry watched the two from where he was leaning, gears turning.

Bruce stopped typing and leaned back in his chair, hands steepled under his chin. “I think I figured out what caused you to end up here. I should be able to reverse it.”

“Awesome!” Dick said, standing back up. “Let’s do it!”

Bruce shook his head. “It’s going to take me awhile to figure out how. And then I’m going to have to actually activate it… You’re going to have to be patient. I know full well that you’re terrible at that, though.”

“So… when you say ‘awhile’...” Dick trailed off, propping himself against the computer.

“Terry, would you mind taking Dick upstairs to a room?”

He turned to the other man. “I’m sure you would be able to find it yourself, but I have no way of knowing how similar your timeline is to ours.”

“Timeline?” Terry asked.

“Dick isn’t just from the past,” Bruce said.

“I’m from another universe, aren’t I?”

Bruce nodded.

Dick sighed. “Why is it always me? Why can’t this happen to Timmy? Or Jason? Or even Bruce? Nope, it’s always gotta be me.”

Bruce huffed something that could generously be termed a laugh, which made Terry look up sharply - he’d hardly seen Bruce smile, let alone laugh, granted it wasn’t much of one.

“Yeah, come on, Dick. I’ll bring you upstairs. We’ll drop by the kitchen too. No more Alfred but I’m sure we can find something edible.”

\-----

“It’s good to see that kitchen appliances haven’t changed much in the last fifty years,” Dick mused.

“Hm? Oh, no, Bruce is just real old-fashioned.”

Dick nodded. “Right. Of course.”

The two had managed to find cheese and cold cuts in the fridge, and mostly not-moldy bread in the pantry to make a few dozen sandwiches, and were eating.

“So, this must all be weird,” Terry said in an attempt to make conversation.

“Dude, you have no idea,” the older man said with a laugh. “It’s so weird, I’ll almost forget that anything is different, but then I’ll see something that reminds me, and it’s almost like whiplash.”

“And Bruce? How is he compared to the one you know?”

Dick shrugged. “I don’t know. At times he’s almost exactly the same, stern. But then sometimes he seems to have grown more serious over the years, which makes sense I guess. But other times he’s almost friendly compared to the one I know.”

Terry raised an eyebrow suspiciously. “The old man? Friendly? I’d hate to meet your Bruce.”

Dick chuckled. “It really depends on when you see my Bruce - not _my_ \- oh you know what I mean. Young Bruce.” He shook his head to clear it. “While he was Batman, he would never smile, let alone laugh. Maybe smirk, if you were lucky. But when he wasn’t Batman…” Dick seemed to get lost in his memories for a moment. “He was friendly - actually friendly. Easy to get along with, until work got in the way. He played billionaire idiot really well. But it was hard to tell which was the act - the Batman or Bruce Wayne. Honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever figure it out.” He looked up at Terry, snapping out of his almost daydream-like reverie. “What?”

Terry was looking at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking that he wasn’t putting into words. There was more than a mentorship-style relationship between Bruce and Dick, that was obvious to him. But what it was underneath he couldn’t quite put his finger on.

  
“So you and Bruce, you’re close? In your timeline?”

Dick scoffed. “I don’t think it’s possible to be close to him. But, relatively? Yeah. I’m probably the closest person to him with a couple exceptions.”

Terry nodded.

“You’re thinking something. Go on, what is it?”

Terry shrugged, “Not sure yet.”

Dick shook his head. “Well, I can tell you’re good for him. I used to say that Batman needs a Robin, but no, I think Bruce just needs _someone._ To keep him in touch with reality.”

Terry smiled despite himself. “I like to think so. I’m not sure he likes me all the time, but I try.”

“Hey, if he likes you all the time, you’re not doing it right, right?”

“Maybe,” the younger man conceded. “He likes you, though.”

Dick almost frowned. “How do you mean?”

“His entire demeanor seems different now. He looks old, but he’s almost acting young. Also, he doesn’t seem to object about you being in his personal space. He never says anything to me, but I get the Look. You didn’t. Not to mention he laughed. Well, chuckled, but it’s pretty much a laugh as far as the old man’s concerned.”

Dick seemed almost to blush, and averted his eyes. That’s when it clicked with Terry.

“No way.”

“Huh?”

“I just - I mean I’m not surprised, but it’s not exactly something I was expecting, y’know?”

“What are you on about, kid?” Dick asked, sounding exasperated but also a little scared.

“You’re in love with Bruce.”

Dick visibly flinched and looked away.

“I’m right!”

“Don’t yell it,” he hissed. “The last thing I need is for-”

“For what?” came a voice from the doorway. The pair turned to see Bruce standing watching them.

“Bruce!” Dick exclaimed. “How long were you -”

Bruce cut him off, turning to Terry. “I think the both of you should try and get some sleep. It’s early, and we have a long day tomorrow. Your mom was expecting you to stay here tonight, correct?”

Terry nodded, almost embarrassed on Dick’s behalf. “Yeah. Come on, man.” He led Dick out into the hallway.

Bruce caught Dick’s arm, “wait,” he said softly.

Dick looked down at Bruce’s hand on his arm, and then up at Terry. “I’ll figure it out. You go ahead.”

Terry nodded, looking between the two suspiciously. “Right. I’ll just… See you two tomorrow. Or later today, I guess.”

Terry went into a bedroom, closing the door softly. Then he ran to the bed, careful not to make noise on the creaky floorboards, and peered through the vent on the wall above the bed that looked out into the hallway.

\-----

“Bruce, what’s going on?”

The older man released the younger’s arm. “I’m sorry… it’s… it’s nothing.”

This time, Dick grabbed his wrist. “Bruce, something is on your mind.” He paused for a moment. “How long were you standing there listening to us?”

Bruce looked at the ground, which was all the answer Dick needed. “Look, I’m sorry, I should never have let on with the kid-”

Bruce cut him off. “There’s nothing to apologize for. Besides, he’s more observant than he may seem. I’ve learned it’s not easy to hide anything from him. Do you think I decided to tell him our secret? He figured it out. He’s smarter than he looks.”

He sighed. “What I’m trying to say, Dick, is that…”

“I understand that you don’t feel the same way - that you never did. That’s alright. I promise, I never thought you would.”

“That’s not it at all, Dick.” The older man sighed. “I don’t know why this is so hard for me to say.”

Dick smirked, and leaned forward some. “Then let me. I think I know what you’re getting at.”

Bruce looked up into his eyes, _even bluer than I remember_ he thought before berating himself. _You’re not a schoolgirl, Batman. Get yourself together._

All thoughts of composing himself went out the window as Dick grew closer, however.

“Can I?” He asked huskily.

Bruce stayed silent, looking at his ever-nearing lips.

He smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes.” He closed the distance, and kissed Bruce softly. Both men closed their eyes, and Dick wrapped his arms around Bruce. After a moment he pulled back. “There. Feel better?”

The old man almost smiled. “How long?”

Dick groaned, looking up at the ceiling. “Do we have to go there?”

Bruce exhaled quickly in what could nearly be described as a laugh. Or maybe a chuckle.

“Fine,” Dick sighed. “A while.”

“As in…?”

“As in way too long. How about you?”

Bruce shrugged, looking down at where Dick had his body pressed against Bruce’s. “For me? Decades. It started back when you had been Nightwing for a few years. I don’t know when exactly. I just remember you coming back to Gotham at one point, us working side by side, and I realized.”

Dick nodded, looking down into the older man’s eyes. “Do you think the Bruce in my timeline feels the same way?”

A corner of Bruce’s lips turned up. “I don’t know how he couldn’t.”

Dick smiled, his perfect white teeth shining in the dim light, and Bruce felt his heart catch for a moment. “You know, B, I think wherever there’s a you and a me, there’s something.”

Bruce smiled softly at the old nickname. “I’m almost inclined to agree.”

\-----

Terry sat down on the bed, giving the men their privacy. He knew he shouldn’t have looked, but he was too curious. “Who woulda thought the old man’s a romantic,” he said quietly to the empty room, chuckling.

\-----

A few days later, Bruce finally figured out how to send Dick back and managed to recreate the circumstances using the Batcomputer.

“Well, I guess this is goodbye,” Terry said. “It was really great meeting you, Dick. Take care of your Bruce for me.”

Dick smirked and winked at Terry. “Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. He’ll be _well_ taken care of.”

Terry groaned. “Thanks, because that’s what I meant,” he said sarcastically.

Bruce gave Dick a stern look.

“Oh come on old man, you know the kid knew.”

“I thought we agreed not to tell him,” Bruce said sharply, but with no real bite.

“He figured out how I felt. I’m sure he figured out something happened. Like you said, he’s smarter than he looks.”

The two looked at Terry, who shrugged. “Maybe I did.”

Dick and Bruce hadn’t done anything like that first night, at least as far as Terry knew. But the glances when the other wasn’t looking were definitely there. Along with a comment about Bruce keeping his butt in shape that Terry did not have to hear and was trying to delete from his memory.

The teen turned and walked away, letting the other two have a moment.

“I never asked, but it’s killing me. Am I… still alive?”

“Yes,” Bruce said. “But we don’t really keep in touch.”

“Fix that,” Dick said firmly, and Bruce just nodded.

“See you, B.”

Bruce nodded, and put a hand on Dick’s shoulder. Dick looked towards Terry. “It was nice meeting you, kid. Keep an eye on this guy for me.”

Terry smiled and waved.

With that, Bruce went to the computer, pressed a few buttons, and Dick was gone. He sighed heavily and took a seat. Terry walked over beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. Bruce covered the young man’s smooth hand with his large rough one. He didn’t even give him a Look.

\-----

“Dick! We were worried!” Tim yelled when Dick reappeared in the Batcave. “You just vanished!”

“How long was I gone?”

Jason shrugged from where he was standing a few feet away. “I dunno. An hour? Two?”

Dick frowned. “That’s weird, I was gone for three days.”

Damian frowned from his seat at the computer. Dick thought about how different it was from the one he had just been looking at. “Where were you, Richard?”

Dick chuckled. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. But I’ve got something I need to do first. Where’s your dad?”

“Father is upstairs on the phone with the League. I believe he has threatened half of their number by now.”

Dick smiled. “Sound ‘bout right. You kids hang tight.”

He started up the stairs before turning and yelling “I missed you idiots!”

Jason turned to Tim. “What the everloving Hell was that about?”

Tim shrugged. “Who knows with the two of them. Thirty bucks?”

Jason put his hand out to shake. “You’re on.”

\-----

“Alfred!” Dick hugged the butler, who seemed rather taken aback.

“Master Richard! You’re alright! You had us concerned, you know.”

“Yeah I know just hug me you Brit.”

Alfred smiled and hugged the young man back. “How long?”

Dick shook his head. “I’ll tell you about it later, Al. Promise. But for now, where’s B?”

Alfred nodded toward the study.

“Thanks!” He ran towards the doorway and barged in.

“Dick?” Bruce’s jaw dropped for a moment. After a second he said into the phone “Sorry, Clark, he’s back. I didn’t mean all of that, you know? Maybe some of it-” He frowned at his phone. “He hung up. Rude.”

He looked back up at Dick. “Where were you? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you all about it later, I promise. But there’s something I have to do first.”

“What might that be?”

“Bruce… I love you.”

Bruce stood stock still long enough for Dick to be concerned. Then he walked to the other side of his desk. “Dick… I…”

Dick’s face fell. “You… don’t-”

“No! I mean yes! I mean-”

Dick laughed and ran forward, cutting the older man off by pressing their lips together. Bruce kissed him back, grabbing him by the waist.

\-----

In the doorway, Jason groaned and handed a very smug Tim thirty bucks.

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like Dick is the older sibling that has 5 nicknames for everybody (bc I do so).
> 
> Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! I appreciate comments and kudos so leaving them would make me happy! 
> 
> If you liked this, read my other Bruce/Dick fics and hit me up on Tumblr at in-between-sleep-and-awake
> 
> Thanks again! Lots of love! <3


End file.
